‘Love Story’ author Erich Segal dies

Received Oscar nom for screenplay of film adaptation

Erich Segal, who penned the best-selling novel “Love Story,” which was made into a hit Paramount movie in 1970 starring Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw, died of a heart attack Sunday in his London home.

Segal, 72, had suffered from Parkinson’s disease for 30 years.

A Yale classics professor, Segal also wrote the screenplays for “Love Story,” directed by Arthur Hiller; the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” in 1968; and 1980’s “A Change of Seasons,” starring Anthony Hopkins, Shirley MacLaine and Bo Derek.

But it was “Love Story” that was his biggest hit. The film was nominated for seven Oscars including one for Segal for his screenplay, as well as best picture, director, actor (O’Neal) and actress (MacGraw). It won for original score by Francis Lai.

Even though critics panned it, the film was a blockbuster hit. A line from the film, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry” became a catchphrase.

His last outing was 2008’s TV adaptation “Love.”

In later years he lived at Wolfson College, Oxford, where he was a fellow.